Nostalgia ain't what it used to be

The Twenty Eighth Amendment

Date: 01 April, 2006

By: Chief

nd no, this is not an April fool's gag either.

To be perfectly honest, I am not at all sure if we need a twenty eighth amendment to our Constitution. In fact I would much prefer not having another amendment tacked on to the Constitution. The thing here is how do we keep our elected:

Congressmen,

Senators,

Vice President, and;

President —

from making politics a taxpayer funded career?

It is obvious that those in Congress and the executive branch cannot keep themselves, voluntarily at least, out of power. Consider Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He won four presidential terms in a row. We have members of the House and Senate who have been in Congress for so long they could probably tell us who originally painted the bathroom walls. That, my friends, is way too long for anyone to be in an elected office. Which is, as we all know, a position of power.

The Constitution does not specifically proscribe how many times a person may seek reelection to either the House or Senate. All it provides is the length of terms for legislative offices and qualifications. For members of the House the length is two years. Indeed, Article I, Section 2 states:

"House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature."

On the Senate side of Congress it is a little bit different. Article I, Section 3 states:

"Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies."

As you have just read even though the length of term for a Senator is 6 years, the actual length of term depends specifically upon what seat he or she is assuming. As such every two years the entire House of Representatives is up for grabs and 1/3 of the Senate is as well.

The way I see it two years is the common denominator for Congress. Just long enough for them to be able to do something but not long enough for them to wreak havoc. I like that concept. I really do.

The President and Vice President are elected for a term of four years. Additionally, per the Twenty Second Amendment no person can be elected to the office of President more than twice. Article II, Section 1 states:

"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term[.]"

Section I of the Twenty Second Amendment reads as follows:

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

The common denominator there is four years. Longer than House terms. Longer than 1/3 of the Senate. Equal to 1/3 of Senate terms and shorter than 1/3 of Senate terms. Checks and balances. I love 'em. Those boys who founded our country and wrote our Constitution had their act together.

The whole problem as I stated earlier in this story is that our parasitic politicians just refuse to leave after one term. They have a love for power that knows no bounds. And their love for power is killing our freedoms. Our liberty. Further, corruption runs rampant within the halls of Congress and the White House. Parasites.

Since our parasitic politicians refuse to police themselves, the old boys club don't you know, We the People need to police them. I therefore submit that federal election term limits may need to be imposed upon our federal parasitic politicians by means of a Constitutional Amendment.

That said, allow me to provide you with my idea:

Persons seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives

A single two year term,

Upon expiration of term said person shall not be eligible for any federally elected or appointed office for a period of ten years,

No former member of the House shall be eligible for federal employment for a period of ten years commencing upon expiration of his term of office, and;

There shall be no retirement or pension for serving as a member of the House.

Persons seeking election to the U.S. Senate

A single term whose length shall not be longer than the class (or seat) they were elected for,

Upon expiration of term said person shall not be eligible for any federally elected or appointed office for a period of ten years,

No former member of the Senate shall be eligible for federal employment for a period of ten years commencing upon expiration of his term of office, and;

There shall be no retirement or pension for serving as a member of the Senate.

Citizens seeking election as Vice President

A single four year term,

Upon expiration of term said person shall not be eligible for any federally elected or appointed office for a period of ten years,

No former Vice President shall be eligible for federal employment for a period of ten years commencing upon expiration of his term of office, and;

There shall be no retirement or pension for serving as Vice President.

Citizens seeking election as President

A single four year term,

Upon expiration of term said person shall not be eligible for any federally elected or appointed office for a period of ten years,

No former President shall be eligible for federal employment for a period of ten years commencing upon expiration of his term of office, and;

There shall be no retirement or pension for serving as President.

General provisions

Upon ratification the provisions of this Amendment shall become immediately binding upon all current members of Congress, the Vice President and the President.

Now I am not nearly dumb enough to think that this proposal will be the end all of power grabs, Constitutional abridgments or corruption. No, while this idea will not prevent abuses it ought to slow them down a bit.